An estimated 37,988 new and resale houses and condos were sold in Californai last month. That was down 3.8 percent from 39,507 in July and up 13.6 percent from 33,429 for August last year. California sales for the month of August have varied from 29,764 in 1992 to 73,285 in 2005, the average is 49,927.

Of the homes sold in August, 46.9 percent were foreclosure resales, up from a revised 44.9 percent in July and 9.4 percent in August a year ago.

The median price paid for a home last month was $301,000, down 5.3 percent from $318,000 for the month before, and down 35.3 percent from $465,000 for August a year ago. Around half the drop in median is due to depreciation, the other half due to shifts in the types of homes selling, and how those homes are financed.

The pace of Bay Area home sales reversed its July uptick and dropped again last month, marking a return to the long-running waiting game that many potential buyers and sellers have been playing for more than a year. Parts of the East Bay are bucking the trend with active bottom-feeding in foreclosure-stressed neighborhoods, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 7,232 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county Bay Area in August. That was down 4.7 percent from 7,586 in July, and down 0.9 percent from 7,299 in August 2007.

August home sales jumped in Contra Costa and Solano counties as bargain hunters scooped up distressed properties at prices not seen in more than five years. Across the Bay Area, foreclosure resales made up 36.1 percent of all resales last month, up from 33.3 percent in July and 4.4 percent a year ago. The figure represents the percentage of homes resold in August that had been foreclosed on at some point in the prior 12 months.

At the county level, foreclosure resales ranged from 8.6 percent of resales in San Francisco to 61.3 percent in Solano County. In the Bay Area’s other seven counties, August foreclosure resales were as follows: Alameda, 32.5 percent; Contra Costa, 54.4 percent; Marin, 13.5 percent; Napa, 39 percent; Santa Clara, 24.7 percent; San Mateo, 16.6 percent; Sonoma, 41.6 percent.

Investors are scooping up California real estate at a quick pace. Brentwood California had an 18-month inventory of homes for sale in February of 2008. Today, Brentwood’s inventory of homes for sale is around 3 months.

HarperMees & Associates can help you with all of your San Francisco Bay Area real estate purchases. Contact Paul for more information (925) 963-4246